How do winds and the ocean affect the strength of a hurricane?

Question

Do weather conditions and earthquakes in other parts of the world influence the weather or other conditions in the U.S.?
PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

Answer 1

This is a very good question. The energy from water vapor is an essential element in the genesis and sustenance of a tropical storm. What we first see in the development of such storms are large unorganized areas of convective clouds which I have termed Convective Cloud Clusters. These are the incipient areas of storm development. The first thing we need to see for a storm to become organized is surface temperatures of at least 28C. So surface temperature and the water vapor evaporated from the surface and carried up into the clouds of the storm are essential to its development. As clouds then begin to grow, water vapor is condensed due to the lower pressure aloft and this releases a considerable amount of heat energy into the atmosphere and as long as there is no mechanism aloft such as strong shear which can remove this heat the surface pressure will begin to drop. At this point another very important ingredient is necessary and that is southwesterly winds to the south of the cloud cluster which is embedded in the trade winds (easterlies). This wind structure leads to a counterclockwise or cyclonic circulation which brings surface air filled with water vapor toward a developing center of low pressure and circulation. This air then rises in the convective clouds and further supports the development of low pressure. Soon the cluster becomes a tropical depression, the first real stage in tropical storm life cycle. It is numbered at this point and aircraft flights are made into the depression for close up measurements by dropsonde instruments to record temperature and pressure down to the surface. The initial discovery of the storm is generally done by satellite data interpretation, but satellite data will be closely monitored throughout the life cycle of this storm. As the storm develops it next becomes a tropical cyclone and is now given a name. It may also develop an eye (about 25% do at this point in their history). The final stage of the storm is the hurricane. Throughout the life of this storm water vapor is "the" source of energy that is crucial to its life cycle so that when the storm finally moves over land and that energy source is cut off, the storm immediately begins to dissipate. Finally I would suggest your rephrase the second part of your question as a separate question as it is not really related to the tropical storm question. OK?